Arts + Culture

Adam Eeuwens|Projects

One Word, Plastics

Dubbeltje: The Dutch ten-cent coinSince leaving my home country of The Netherlands for the United States in 1996, I have always kept a Dutch ten-cent coin in my wallet. It is fondly dubbed a dubbeltje and is no longer a valid …

Mark Lamster|Essays

On Muses

Lee Siegel has a wonderful piece in today's WSJ on the history and decline of the muse in art.

Mark Lamster|Essays

Triumph of the Will (Or, Everything Old Is New Again)

In the New Yorker this week, Jonah Lehrer writes about a psychological study suggesting that self control, or the ability to delay gratification, more strongly correlates with long-term success than intelligence.

Jason Grant|Essays

Cultured Graphic Hygiene

Regardless of how difficult, disobedient or messy their subject, museum posters are courteous and clean. Is there any reason why graphic design for museums shouldn’t be the measure of their exhibits?

Mark Lamster|Essays

Back to the Future

Over on the Itinerant Urbanist, Karrie Jacobs recently wrote about her first impression of Daniel Libeskind's addition to the Contemporary Jewish Museum, in San Francisco.

Michael Erard|Essays

Cedars

The author's desk at PaisanoIt's the last day of my writing fellowship, I have to be packed up and moved out of the ranch house today, and I'm in the woods, shoving my clippers under cedar trees and crunching the handles together. …

Margaret Wertheim|Essays

Susan Boyle and The Beauty of Crochet

Susan Boyle, performs on "Britain's Got Talent"Like everyone else on planet earth I have been moved to tears by Susan Boyle's amazing performance on Britain's "Got Talent." Any of you who haven't yet watched her on YouTube, do yourself a …

Mark Lamster|Essays

Curse of the Bambino Strikes Again!

Good Lord! Is the new house jinxed?

Michael Sorkin|Essays

On Paul Auster

Interpretation Paul Auster's City of Glass by artists Duytter & Jef Aérosol, 2008 Organized by the Graduate Program in Urban Design at the City College of New York’s School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape …

Mark Lamster|Essays

Auction Block

I'm not much of a buyer, but I do like to keep an eye on the baseball memorabilia market, a project undertaken with a combination of curiosity, envy, bemusement, and sheer stupefaction.

Jessica Helfand|Projects

Land in Crisis: The Antelope Valley Story

Llano Del Rio Commune, Antelope Valley, California. Photography by Matt Jalbert."If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water."Loran Eisely, The Immense Journey, 1957Under California law, property owners have …

Mark Lamster|Essays

Theirs Go to Twaalf

Meet Lamster (no relation), Belgium's ascendant metal goliath.